The Death isn't the End
by theEndisCold
Summary: ::First Story:: Spartans never die..but he couldn't have survived this fight. And we all know: Death isn't always the End.
1. Chapter 1

Uploaded this chapter again, but now it's corrected :D

Thanks to Spazzyninjafish for beta reading!

01. And so it begin

The mission seemed easy at first. At least, for a Spartan. Infiltrate the Covenant Ship and save data about their home world. However, everything has a hitch.

He stood before closed doors- the doors to the bridge. The Master Chief had killed every enemy in his way. He was about to complete the mission successfully. Cortana, a smart AI of the UNSC, tried to hack through various firewalls and data protections to free the way for him.

"Give me two more minutes, Chief!" Though he couldn't see her, the Master Chief knew that she had to look strained. He heard it in her voice.

They had reached the bridge very fast. A little too fast. He had only encountered a few foes, who were all low ranks. Not a real challenge for him. And at this point, he was a little taken aback. Why would a battleship contain only so little and badly qualified soldiers? Actually, he should be glad, but the voice in his back of the head reminded him over and over again to be careful. His radar was useless. The bridge was guarded too well.

"Cortana? Can you see any activities in the room?"

"No, Chief. I'm sorry. It seems as we have to trust in your luck. Hopefully this is enough." She worried about him, and he knew this. They knew each other too long and too well to be able to hide anything from each other.

"Do we have a plan?"

"Well Chief, we go through the door. You kill everything in your way. Preferably without getting injured. We take the data from the ship's system and disappear as fast as we had appeared."

"What if it does not run so smoothly?"

"I don't want to think about this, but it probably won't. If you get seriously injured, you send me and the data to _Silent Night_."

He nodded, stoic. She already knew this behavior. He was ready.

"Open the doors in three... two... one... good luck!"

The doors flashed white and then slowly hissed open. The Chief lobbed two frag grenades into the middle of the bridge. After a few seconds, two muffled explosions resounded into the hall. He shouldered his gun and checked the magazine. He hesitantly stepped inside and looked around in the now empty room. Not a noise escaped from any of the bodies. After he had made sure that it was secure, he entered the bridge. One step after the other, he made his way to the middle of the room.

"Cortana?"

"Yes?"

"Where are the soldiers?" She did not answer him; he knew she was busy with scanning the ship. Some seconds later there came the sobering answer.

"I do not know." She said, briefly and clearly. This fact bothered her and he knew this. As a smart AI, it was her job to know everything. After he finished his thoughts, he pushed further into the room.

Indeed, he now stepped with a strict care. The only things that reveal the presence of the Covenant were some of their symbols and three tattered Unggoy corpses. They had probably been killed by the blast from his grenades. There was not much left from them, but the color of the blood indicated at least their race.

The Spartan crossed the puddles from blood and entered the floating level in the middle of the bridge. After a short examination he found what he was searching for. A port for the AI chip.

"Hurry, plug me in, Chief!"

His armored hand reached to the back of the helmet and removed the memory chip. After a short moment, the cold presence in his mind withdrew. He held the chip for one moment in his hand. How easily it could be destroyed. Close the hand and the data crystal would become dust. So breakable, yet so strong. She had always supported with all she had, and always backed him up. She was his companion, his family. However, he could not afford these feelings, at least not at this moment. He would have to think later about it. If there was a later.

He pushed the crystal in the port. After a few seconds, Cortana appeared as a hologram. Her arms crossed and an eyebrow pulled up.

"Why did you take so long? Have you destroyed the whole Covenant? Or discovered the philosophies of the sense of the life? No, you have found your true love!"

He did not think about what she had said. After a few moments, he realized what had just happened. His subconsciousness had played a trick on him. He said nothing, to avoid any embarrassment.

She looked at him surprised. For the most, his behavior wasn't an answer, but for her...

She hasn't expected this. Now she frowned, however, her face relaxed again. She could not see his expression, but she knew to him this "answer" was more than embarrassing.

"We will talk about this. Now, let's finish the mission."

The doors behind the soldier shut quietly and flashed red.

"I have locked the doors. This should offer us a little privacy."

While Cortana copied the data from the ship core, he checked his equipment. This was one of his habits during a battle- in moments of silence he checks his weapons. The process was familiar to him in such a way that he could have carried it out in the darkness. It calmed him. At least, for some time.

The bridge was absolutely silent. Only the quiet humming of the ship in the background was heard. The silence stretched on for a few minutes, then the moment of peace faded away.

"Finis-" Cortana was interrupted by the sound of exploding plasma grenades not far from their current position.

"What was that?!"


	2. Chapter 2

New chapter :D

Ahhh...I forgot: Halo isn't mine and blablabla...belongs to Microsoft, 343 Industries and Bungie and so on...

02. The last Fight

In one fluid movement, he removed the data crystal from the ship network and inserted it back into his neural interface. It clicked into place and the cold presence flooded into his skull. Then, he searched cover behind a pillar and waited. There were a few more blasts, and then he heard voices behind the door. The heavy doors blocking their way were still closed.

"It will take them a while to open the doors." Cortana had protected the doors with various passwords and other tricks.

"Not if they open them by hand..." He swallowed. There was no way to know how many hostiles were behind the door. Once again he checked his weapon and ejected the magazine. With a quiet click, a new magazine locked into place. Good, he was ready to fight. For his companions, for humanity, and for victory.

The white-blue light of the plasma grenades flashed inside the bridge. His visor automatically darkened, allowing him to stare directly into the light. A few Elites entered the bridge. Their armor gleamed silver, showing off their rank. Before they got a chance to see him, the Spartan shot at them. He had the element of surprise on his side. The first bullets pinged against the energy shield of one of the warriors. It briefly shimmered, then lowered. The Elite was defenseless, but his pride prevented him from searching for cover. The warrior's energy sword sprung to life. The Chief knew what this meant- he had to bring him fast down, or he would come to a quick end by this blade. Bullets ripped into the Sangheilli, blowing through his armor, skin and bone. But the Elite refused to give up.

"Too close!" This was his only thought. With a bone breaking kick, he brought the warrior down. The Sangheilli howled in pain, but was silenced by a shot to the head. During the fight, more Covenant troops had flooded into the room. He was surrounded by the highest ranking warriors that the Covenant had to offer.

"Chief? I think we have a problem."

He saw that against this superior strength even he could do nothing. His battle was lost, however, the fight for the humanity went on. He had to send Cortana to the _Silent Night_.

"Cortana, listen. I'll try fight my way out of here. I need to send you to-"

"No! I want... You can't..."

"I will send you to the _Silent Night_. You will be safe there."

With that, the Chief started to shoot. Enemies fell under his fire. For every fallen foe, three more took its place.

"And what about you? I cannot leave you behind."

"You have to do this. You know as well as I do that I cannot make it. You have to sacrifice me."

She heard the voice of her "mother_". Could you sacrifice him if you had to? If it meant completing the mission?_

His voice was quiet and determined, and she knew why. He did not fear the death. He never cared about the risks of dying, it was only an inconvenience to him. An obstacle.

_Could you watch him die?_

Plasma hit his armor, breaking through the shields and melting the metal plates of his armor. The warning signal in his helmet shrilled, telling him that his MJOLNIR armor was damaged. He ignored it and went on, shooting everything that moved. But the hostiles came to no end. He had walked into a trap, and now he had to pay the price.

The bio monitor, which Cortana watched anxiously, indicated that he was down. And in spite of this, she still believed in him. His red blood on the ground mixed with the blue and purple alien blood, and created a terribly beautiful design.

The Chief dragged himself to the port. His gun had been spent a long time ago, he helped himself to his pistol. With one hand he shot, the other removed the chip from his back of the head. Cortana's hologram lit up. Suddenly, a single plasma shot met the Chief's head. The thick bullet-proof glass covering his face shattered and melted. Now, at last the helmet had become useless. He took the helmet off and picked off the rest of the Covenant warriors. And for a moment it was silent, no sounds of plasma weapons, no shouting or screaming, only silence. The biggest enemy of the Covenant, the faceless demon, had revealed his secret.


	3. Chapter 3

Some time has passed but I'm back...*cough* school is a b****

So here another chapter for you and a special thanks to my beta-reader :D

03. Farewell

In this moment of the silence, he knew that his fight had ended. He turned his back to the mass of Covenant soldiers and looked Cortana straight in the eyes. To her terror he smiled. This smile, it was so ridiculous, so absurd.

Why was he so happy? Was it because he would see again his brothers and sisters? Because he had died fighting? She didn't know, and did not want to know. She was glad he was at least smiling. For whatever reason, he was happy. That was all that mattered to her.

"Would you please set a self-destruction countdown of three minutes?"

First she was shocked at this request. She wanted to convince him to not do this. She was nearly in tears. Could an AI cry?

"Of course, John."

"Thanks." After this, he became stoic. He turned back to the mass of hostiles. They all looked around, startled by the shrill self-destruct alarm. Not knowing what to make of it, they just milled in confusion, momentarily forgetting about the Chief. "Countdown is set. It will start as soon as I am transferred to _Silent Night_." She paused for a moment. "I'll miss you." A single tear slipped down her cheek, and as if a dam had been broken down, they all flooded out.

He looked over his shoulder at her for one last time. The smile was still on his face.

"Cortana, stop crying. We will see each other again. I promise."

She wanted him to remind him to not make a promise he could not keep, but she desperately wanted to believe him and hope he was right. She just nodded instead.

"Confirm security code D97: "My One and Only"

"Password confirmed. Good bye, John."

He had already turned to the Covenant soldiers and ran down the ramp, right into the arms of death. In the last glimpse of him she saw, a zealot with an energy sword was approaching him from behind. She wanted to shout, warn him. But it was too late. She had already been transferred to _Silent Night_.

Her helpless screams were heard on the bridge. The crew held their breath. This was his end. She hoped that he would die fighting, and not in the explosion. Time seemed to race and stand still at the same time. She stared at the horrifying picture that had appeared before her. Her hologram fell on its knees and pressed a hand to her mouth, so that not a single noise escaped from her throat. _'What have I done?_' She thought. If she had scanned more carefully, he could have survived. It was her fault. Tears flowed freely down her face, and nobody tried to stop them.

After an eternity, explosions were seen at the outer wall of the Covenant ship. After a few moments, the entire ship had changed into a small, blue, luminous sun. It was over. John was dead. This time, his luck had not been able to save him. He could no longer keep his promise. She covered up the accumulated data in the storage compartments of _Silent Night_ before crawling into the deepest corner of the ship network. She thought about what had just happened. A Spartan had died. No, _HER_ Spartan was dead. She thought of the fact that Spartans do not die, they're only missing in action. She wished so much it was true, but is wasn't.


End file.
